3 Simple Ways to Sell Yourself in Your Resume

In today’s job market, it is vital to not only list your experience, skills and education, but really sell your value in your resume. Recruiters have very little time (6 seconds to be exact) to scan your resume and decide if you’re worth a phone call.

So, it’s your job to stand out and make them notice you as they sift through hundreds of resumes. Here are 3 simple tips to help you do just that.

Quotes

Yes, quotes. Don’t be afraid to add a short quote directly on your resume that speaks directly to your brilliance. Pull quotes from LinkedIn recommendations, past performance appraisals or letters of recommendations. Don’t make it too long. It’s fine to take short excerpts of no more than 3 lines. Make sure you list the name of the person and your relationship with the person to give it some credibility. Here’s a quick example of a quote I recently added to a mental health counselor’s resume that I pulled from a past employer’s letter of recommendation.

With her patience and compassion, she is able to create a comfortable environment for our many patients to open themselves up to a discussion while Nancy follows her training and instinct in helping to empower patients.

It’s one thing for you to toot your own horn, but it’s even more powerful for someone else to brag about how wonderful you are.

Quantifiable Achievements

Make sure each position has 3 to 5 bullets that highlight accomplishments that include some numbers. Here’s the deal, numbers make your claims of improving sales more valid. They also indicate to the reader the level at which you operate. For instance, if you boosted productivity after implementing some new automated process, quantify how much. So, let’s say the process in question took 2 weeks to complete. Now, it takes 2 days, you essentially improved productivity 85%. That bullet could read something like:

See how that’s a much stronger line item on the resume? Think about how you’ve not only saved money, but improved productivity, streamlined operations, generated revenue, reduced costs, improved employee or customer retention…catch my drift?

Meaningful Verbiage

Instead of copying the verbiage from your job description, show us how you achieved something. Not sure what I mean? Well, focus on outcomes. In other words, think about what you did, then ask yourself, “so what?” This thought process will help you create phrases that is much more meaningful in the eyes of the reader.

I’ll give you an example. Let’s say you’re a receptionist. Your primary role is to answer the phones and greet guests. Your job description probably has a line that says something like “Answering screening and forwarding incoming phone calls.”

So what?

So, you are the face of the company. You set the tone of the business for each caller and make sure all callers are routed to the appropriate person quickly and accurately, right? Well, as a result, you are essentially contributing to customer sales, service and retention. Let’s face it, if you were rude, cold or off-putting, callers wouldn’t be inclined to do business with the firm. So, let’s rephrase so you don’t blend in with all the other receptionists out there.

Facilitate customer retention and sales through building customer rapport when answering incoming calls with professionalism and poise.

See the difference?

Regardless of your level or industry, these strategies are sure to help you stand out and be noticed in a sea of competing candidates that all have similar backgrounds, skills and education.

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Melanie L. Denny is President of Resume-Evolution, a professional resume writing service that takes pride in delivering L.I.V.E!™ resumes that Look Good, are Intentional, Value-based and Enticing. Our team of elite certified resume writers provide entry-level, mid-level and executive resume writing services to brilliant professionals who are ready to level-up in their career.